The Nutcracker (2009) was directed by Ross MacGibbon. The production is from The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden.
Miyako Yoshida stars as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Yoshida was a principal dancer in her company in Japan, and a guest principal dancer at The
Royal Ballet. Yoshida was unusual because she is only five feet two inches tall. Most great ballerinas are taller, and being short is a handicap in this art form. Yoshida compensates for her height by her talent and her elegance.
Iohna Loots portrays Clara. Loots is only five feet one inch tall, but this works because Clara is an adolescent, and she i supposed to look young and vulnerable.
As would be expected from the Royal Ballet, production values are high, and the soloists and corps are extremely skilled.
This is a pretty good version of The Nutcracker, but not a great one. I haven't seen other versions, but my guess is that better versions are available.
We saw this film on DVD, which allowed us to view some interesting extras. For example, the director emphasizing to the young student ballerinas that the mice in the battle scene have to be threatening, not cute.
This Nutcracker has a low IMDb rating of 6.5. I thought it was better than that, and rated it 8.
